Tagging along on a student-led historical tour of Harvard
On a recent crisp, sunny morning, Rachel “Rae” Gilchrist waited at the Richard A. and Susan F. Smith Campus Center for the first of two tours she would lead that day. For Gilchrist, a fast talker with the gift of gab, working as a campus tour guide is the perfect job. “I like to talk to people,” says Gilchrist ’20. “I like to make them laugh and entertain them. I talk. They listen. It’s perfect.” Gilchrist is among 20 students who work at the Harvard University Visitor Center, answering questions from guests and leading the University’s official historical tours. So far this year, the center has served 34,000 visitors. The tours’ two biggest selling points? They’re free, and they’re led by Harvard students. Gilchrist, a native of Bridgewater, Va., and the first in her family to attend college, earns extra money by working 30 hours a week as a guide on...